Top 10 Reasons I’m Afraid to Click “Purchase” For Plane Tickets

10. The trip involves me going to visit my family. WITH my two children. No CG.

9. My family wants me to fly directly into Iowa (versus the cheaper Kansas City option). No direct flight exists. Two take offs. Two landings. Our last trip, the only thing ceasing Lil Diva’s screams on one flight, was The Mommy Milk Dispenser. This no longer exists.

8. I’ve never had to deal with a connecting flight with two children, much less while flying solo.

7. What if I miss the connecting flight and get stranded at the airport?

6. What if I lose a child in the airport because I dared put too much focus on the other one?

5. What if they brand my son a terrorist because he doesn’t wait well in the security line and CG isn’t with me to prevent him from crawling into the “no unauthorized personnel beyond this point” area?

2. CG and I had more sleep with Lil Diva as a newborn then we did at Christmas time. Thanks to illness and a cough, every night Lil Diva had to be removed from the bedroom she slept in with The Tackler – or we risked having The Tackler awake all night.

1. I’m never going to find time to write without a parent to tag team. I could use a few guest posters…

This mischievious smile is something I don't wish to see in an airport.

And before my mother gets all huffy with “Well maybe you shouldn’t visit if you feel that way?” please remember Mom, I’ve always known these reasons, and I still want to visit anyway.

I’m just terrified of Murphy, who haunts my vacations.

Anyone have survival tips for traveling alone with two little ones? Other than an iPod (which I know is vital).

I need to be prepared.

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Kelly K @ Dances with Chaos

Kelly K has learned the five steps to surviving of motherhood:
1) Don't get mad. Grab your camera. 2) Take a photograph. 3) Blog about it. 4) Laugh. 5) Repeat.
She shares these tales at Dances with Chaos in order to preserve what tiny amount of sanity remains.
You can also find her on her sister blog, Writing with Chaos (www.writingwithchaos.com) sharing memoir and engaging in her true love: fiction writing.
It's cheaper than therapy.

If any of your flights are long enough that they’ll be serving liquor, offer everybody in the seats close to you a free round if the kids start getting on their nerves. Chances are they’ll be fine until landing, and it’s too late for drinking then.

My son I’m not worried about ON the airplane, thanks to the invention of the iPod Touch. Lil Diva is my plane concern.

Both worry me for the “running loose” while traveling.

The last time I flew alone with just my son (who was great for the travel), he decided to cut some teeth during the trip. I spent one night awake in a recliner chair while he slept in my lap, because every time I set him down, he screamed. This from a normally well sleep child.

Murphy haunts me on trips. I can only think of one vacation where he was too busy pestering someone else.

Pacifier or bottle will help the Diva with those ouchy ears on landing (and sometimes they happen on take-off, too). It’s the sucking that does it. Check the TSA website for how to go about taking bottles on planes. (They change the regs like every 5 minutes). If Tackler has the ear-owwies, do you feel he’s old enough for gum?

My son went through the metal detector once carrying a teddy bear that had a jingle bell inside. Sent the detector off, of course. Marshals were sympathetic and nice. This was pre-9/11, of course, but I do think they have compassion for flyers with small kids.

They have these lanyard things with plastic pouches that you can get (somewhere) and put your tickets and ID in and hang around your neck, so you’re not always digging. Also might be good to put one on tackler with ID info, in case he gets loose. I saw a family with 8 children under 10 traveling once, and each kid had a ID tag.

That’s all I can think of at present. But we did used to fly with the kids a lot when they were under 5.

I’ve noticed the flight and security and smoothly they go have a direct correlation to how helpful the agents/attendants are. On our last trip to Iowa, I had very unhelpful ones on the way out, and the most helpful, going out of their way to make security easy on the way back.

I hate flying. And flying with the little one always scares me. I can relate to your fears and concerns. On our last trip, we had a connecting flight. We made it alright, we didn’t miss the plane or anything, but we did have to hustle it through the Dallas airport. My iPod Touch saved us. I put some cartoons on it for our daughter to watch during the flight. That and a couple of games were lifesavers, to say the least. I suppose getting through security is my biggest fear now.

My 19 month old just wants to eat it. Her favorite “flying” activity is roaming the aisles and trying to steal/tip/spill everyone’s drinks. I always pray for a nap, but without a way to nurse her down, it complicates things.

Security is a fear. Our flight to Iowa the last time, it was HELL leaving here. See the story here.

We use a portable DVD player for Jake and it will entertain him for awhile. Another friend who’s traveling alone with two kids got one of those backpack/leash things for her daughter. It should prevent her from getting lost or stolen in the airport. Good luck! I certainly don’t envy you!

I’m afraid to fly and I don’t have two kids with me… it’s why I am contemplating driving down there to visit (after my neck surgery, which may or may not take place in about a month or two, equally scary). Have you considered driving? I know with two kids in the car it would probably be an adventure. but with all the hassle involved in just getting ON a plane it almost seems like two days in a car might be less hassle… how do they do on road trips?

Those are good reasons to be scared. Hopefully you’ve frightened yourself so much that it will go much smoother than you anticipate.

We traveled when the twins were 14 months, with my hubs AND we had our nephew with us on the way to our destination. But it was hard. Maybe you can borrow a double stroller and put them both in while you go through the airport? We had a layover as well, but it worked out great, as it gave us all a chance to stretch our legs, and I got to feed the girls lunch without having to drag all the food out on the crowded plane (they sat in our laps). But we DID almost miss our connecting flight bc they changed the gate and we didn’t know.

I bet you’ll do great. It’s amazing how much we moms can up the ante and raise the bar when we really need to.